writing snippet - phonecall (Chayla)

Chayla dialed the all the numbers but one, waited a dramatic moment, and then forcefully punched the 4.

Rr-ring. Rr-ring. Rr-ring.

“C’mon, J-hole, pick up already!” She rolled her eyes in exasperation and stretched, holding the phone out at arm’s length for the last two rings.

Hi, this is James. I’m not available right now but leave a message and I’ll get back to y….what the fuBEEP.

Chayla grinned, just like every time. She remembered what she’d been doing when he was recording that message. She started yelling at the phone, still arms-length away.

“James! James! Pick up your end of the goddam tin can, James!” He always called her phone a tin can, giving her a healthy dose of teasing for still using a landline when literally everyone else they knew had cell phones. In return, she would usually give him a healthy dose of middle finger.

“But seriously, though. Don’t call me back because I won’t be here when you get this message. I’m going to Taveston’s. Meet me there in, oh, 45 minutes or something. If you don’t, you better expect the worst. You know, like the time I stopped shaving and swore at you in French with an empty wine bottle whenever you had a girl over. Or the topless thing. Oh by the way, tell your uncle I said hi.” Chayla could barely suppress a giggle. “Anyway, see you soon!”

Now she just needed to get dressed and head over to the bar. James would be there, almost exactly on time, and she’d get huffy about how she’d waited so long for him to arrive, and he’s apologize profusely, and she’d act like she had been snubbed but would still allow him to escort her inside. She didn’t want to call it a tradition, because she wasn’t sure he’d caught on yet that the same thing happened every time, or that it was just a game.

Actually, James was a great guy, and Chayla considered herself really lucky to have a man like him in her life. As she picked through the pile of clothes on her floor for underwear and a tank top that wasn’t too wrinkled, she tried not to dwell on her secret fear that he’d get tired of her fond abuse and stop spending time with her. James was a really good friend and didn’t deserve to be treated so shitty; she didn’t know why she couldn’t stop.

A quick look in the mirror to see if she should put on a shorter skirt (nah, I haven’t shaved in days), the she pulled her hair back, tied a bandana like a headband, and drew the top card of her tarot deck to tuck in it for accent. Empress reversed? Damn, that means something but I left my stupid book upstairs.

Anywhere else, her exploded-new-age-shop couture would probably get a load of nonplussed stares, but she’d been so many times to Taveston’s, with groups or with James, that they were used to her stylistic affectations. She was pretty sure at least one of the bartenders knew her by name. Oh well, that just meant that sometime soon she’d have to shake things up by going in wearing a regular jeans-and-t-shirt outfit. That might raise a few eyebrows.